Fire Emblem: The Legend of the Reid Brothers
by PaladinOmega
Summary: Markus and Kurtis are two brother living with their father in Northern Thracia, their family name once known as knights of the realm long forgotten, and the memory of a tragedy lives in their blood. One day another tragedy occurs, and it will test the bond between two brothers, alongside a quest for power, revenge and conquest. My first feature length fic. Mostly OC characters.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem, or Nintendo, or any of FIre Emblem's set characters, what I do own are my characters and story set in Fire Emblem 4's setting.

Prologue

In the Year Gran Calendar 632, gods descended from the heavens and gave their powers to twelve of the Liberation Army's soldiers, thus forming the Legend of the Twelve Crusaders. With divine power and holy weapons in hand, the Twelve Crusaders fought the Lopt Empire, desperate to bring an end to centuries of fear, chaos and destruction.

But this story isn't about them, too quickly do the common folk forget that others were involved in the defeat of the Lopt Empire, particularly the exploits of the Reid Brothers, Darry and Faucon. Joining soon after the Miracle at Darna, the two brothers led a detachment of the Liberation Army to free Chalphy and Jungby, while the bulk of the force led by Heim defeated the dark emperor in Barhara.

For their efforts, the Reid brothers were given peerage by Lord Baldo, as well as weapons imbued with the power of Narga by Heim, yet not all was to go well during the after war period. Some years after the war's end, Darry asked Lord Baldo for the hand of his daughter in marriage, for the two fell in love soon after the fighting was over.

While he felt assured that his status as knight of the realm and a member of the Liberation Army was enough, Baldo thought differently, and wasn't keen with his somewhat cocky attitude, so Baldo dismissed him and started work on finding a more "suitable" partner for his daughter.

Feeling betrayed by his friend, early the next day Darry attacked Baldo with the weapon given to him by Heim, and the clashing of holy weapons alarmed many in Castle Chalphy, and the first to step in and protect Lord Baldo was the younger Reid brother Faucon.

While Faucon tried to reason with his brother the two fought, and in a fit of rage and fury Darry sliced the head of his younger brother clean off in a scene later dubbed "The Tragedy of Faucon." Suddenly realizing what he had done, and with troops rushing in to arrest him, Darry picked up his brother's sword and fled Chalphy, where he was never seen again.

Some say he renounced his warrior ways and became the Blaggi Priest, while others say he was captured and exiled to the Silesian Mountains as punishment, but ask anyone who lives in the small Holmes Village in Northern Thracia, and they will tell you that the Reid family lives on as protectors of Manster, forever in atonement for the sins cast by the older Reid brother...

Almost a century, and several generations later, another Tragedy would occur, and once more would the holy blades of Reid be clashed by two brothers, in sorrow and in anger.

**A Brief Overview of Characters Introduced This Chapter **

**Darry**: The older Reid Brother and a talented swordsman, together with his younger brother Faucon he fought the Lopt Empire at Chalphy and Jungby. He attacked Baldo after he denied his right to wed his daughter, and in the ensuing chaos he killed Faucon.

**Faucon**: The younger Reid Brother and also a great swordsman, though not as talented as his older brother. He fought the Lopt Empire along with his older brother, and defended Baldo when Darry attacked him, getting killed in the process, leaving his young son fatherless and his wife a widow.

**Baldo**: One of the Twelve Crusaders, granted peerage to the Reid brothers for liberating Chalphy, but disapproved of Darry marrying his daughter.

Author Note: This a project I tried many times, but with school out and no stress in my life I feel like I can do this for once. While I have all of the story notes on hand, translated them to paper (or the keyboard) is quite frustrating, I generally write short stories or poetry, but I want to create a blockbuster epic for this story. Next chapter will start with the main character, Markus, who lives with his father and brother in Holmes Village. For anyone interested, Holmes Village is portrayed as being southwest of Manster, using the Fire Emblem 5 world map as reference, the story also starts in Gran Calendar 745, twelve years before the start of Fire Emblem 4. As long as nothing interrupts me, I should be able to do at least 1 chapter a week.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Village of Holmes

"Are you ready Markus, this could turn out to be more dangerous then we'd thought."

"Are you kidding Kurtis? You're losing your edge, we've gotten into far worse then this and come out smelling like roses."

Several armed axe wielders started advancing on the two swordsman, their backs towards a crude palisade wall, and fires erupted all around them, providing the only flickering light in an otherwise pitch black night.

Gripping their blades, and with hearts a blaze, Kurtis advanced on one, slicing his sword across his belly and parrying the counterattack, while Markus attacked the two bandits to his left.

The fight was rather brief, as after the two brothers fought off three of the bandits the other two turned tail and ran away. Kurtis kneeled down to the last one that was alive, whispering into his ear, "Go now, and tell your friends never again to threaten the safety of our village.

Later that day, in Holmes Village

"It was complete success father, we won't have to worry about those bandits again." Markus stated to his father, Albert, who had just put the book he was reading away.

"Good job, I can see your skills improving more and more everyday, a totally new man then the boy who couldn't even lift a sword two years ago." Albert said, his voice gleaming with affection for his son.

"Well its all thanks to you and Kurtis, without your support there's no way I'd even be half as good as I am today." Markus humbly confessed, leaning on the wall next to the door of the house.

"Oh by the way Markus, your friend Trevor left you a message, he asked to meet you at the smithy when you were finished with your mission." Albert stated.

"Got it, thanks dad, I'll be back later." Markus replied, grabbing his coat from the rack and leaving the house.

Three days ago, word from traveling merchants on the eastern road came that there were bandit groups from the Purple Dragon Mountain bandits poised to attack Holmes Village, the place where Markus and his family lived. In retaliation Albert sent his two sons Markus and Kurtis to intercept the encampment, where they first set fire to it, then started attack the distracted men as they attempted to put out the flames. This whole thing wasn't new to Markus, for the past year he had been on jobs like this alongside his brother Kurtis, his father Albert, and occasionally his best friend Trevor, who was quite the accomplished bowman.

When he was 15 Albert told Markus about his family's history, about the Reid Brothers and the Tragedy of Faucon, and explained that after killing his brother Darry fled to Manster, and worked off his conscience by protecting the inhabitants of the village that sheltered him. Their family up to date had lived entirely in Holmes Village, southwest of Manster Castle, very rarely traveling outside the surrounding area, but while Markus was willing to stay by his father's wishes, Kurtis wanted to leave Manster in explore the continent.

_"All we'll ever do is rot away in this village stuck in the middle of nowhere Markus! Don't you want to get out and explore the world?"_

As he walked to the smithy where Kurtis worked his words rang in his mind, his brother having brought the point up last night as they were on their way home. Markus didn't want to go against his father's wishes, he was such an important character in his life, and Markus felt that he needed to pay him back for all of the skills he taught him in swordplay. But Kurtis was different, whereas Markus got along with his father quite well, his brother challenged Albert's every word, and the two butted heads almost everyday.

Markus thought the feud had to do with him, Albert had told him once that Kurtis "Didn't have a lick of talent" in his swings, while Markus was an incredibly fast learner, mastering techniques that took Kurtis days of practice to nail in only a few hours. And so Kurtis scorned Albert for giving him so much attention, Markus thought, but not all things are as simple as that.

"Hey buddy, Kurtis told me about the whole fiasco with the bandits, did you two really take on the entire camp by yourselves?" Trevor asked, his very eyes bouncing with anticipation for the response.

Before answering his friend, Markus saw that Kurtis was busy at work inside the smithy, which was perhaps the only thing Albert admired about him, it was a lot cheaper to buy raw materials then weapons.

"Of course we did Trevor, you don't doubt us, do you?" Markus snidely replied.

"Not even for a second." Trevor stated, walking forward to join Markus in a man-hug.

Trevor was a youth whose family moved into Holmes when Markus was 5, becoming fast friends with the quirky child. Unfortunately Trevor's parents neglected to inform anyone why they had moved, apparently his father had worked up quite a lot of debt, and were on the run from collectors. Only a month after they had moved in Trevor's parents were slain by mercenaries from Conote, Trevor only living through it by hiding in the closet. Albert felt responsible for the incident, and took care of the orphaned Trevor, living among Markus and Kurtis like brothers, only recently moving back into the house where his parents were killed.

"Oh by the way Markus," Trevor said, reaching behind him to bring out a small package, "Happy Birthday."

Markus was taken aback, he had completely forgotten what day it was, after receiving the gift from Trevor, he found inside contained a small bottle of perfume, the really expensive kind that came all the way from Silesia.

"Perfume? Why would I need that?" Markus asked, unsure about the nature of the gift.

"It's not for you man, it for the girlfriend you need to get." Trevor joked, laughing to himself as Markus stood still with the look of disbelief across his face.

"Okay, fine, the real gift is a collaboration between me and your bro, come in here for a look.

Stepping inside the smithy, Markus saw that Kurtis was still working on his "big project" as he stated. Recently they had been to a fair in Manster, and Kurtis had the chance to test some swords from Isaac, which were long and slightly curved, with only a single edge. Ever since then, he had been hard at work building his own Isaacian blade from directions given to him by the owner of the blades, the project has taken him months, and only recently Markus saw the blade being brought for polishing. It was quite a beautiful sword, with the etching of some sunflowers by hilt.

Kurtis paused the polishing when he realized his brother and Trevor had entered. "Happy Birthday Markus." He stated, breaking up the soot on his face when he smiled.

"Uh, where did you put the package Kurt?" Trevor questioned, calling Kurtis by his affectionate nickname.

Kurtis scanned the room, pointing at a long wrapped object by the back door. Markus walked up to it, smiling to himself as he realized what it was. Opening the wrappings revealed an ornate blade, most likely made by Kurtis, the scabbard contained a long silver blade 1 metre long, with a finely chiseled hilt made with steel and adorned with silver and gold, two prongs jutting out the sides made of twisted silver, and a small ruby in the centre of each hilt on both sides.

"Wow, I'm at a loss for words guys, thank you so much!" Markus exclaimed, taking a few practice swings with the sword.

"We both chipped in, Trevor bought the materials while I made it." Kurtis stated, returning to polishing the blade he was working on.

Before returning the blade to it's scabbard, Markus raised it high above his head and proclaimed, "I hereby dub this sword Orion!"

"Well now that that's done, lets all go out for a few drinks, on me!" Trevor stated, earning mass approval from the brothers.

"At the risk of sounding foolish, I'd drink to that." Kurtis joked, causing Markus to groan, his brother was never any good with the jokes department.

So the three left the smithy for some drinks at the local tavern, unknown to them that this small innocent act would later start a war between Lenster and Thracia.

**A Brief Overview on Characters Introduced This Chapter **

**Markus**: Albert's younger son, a headstrong swordsman who is very talented, which tends to make him quite cocky. While he can seem like an arrogant man, he is a nice person at heart, quick to help out those in need.

Age: 18 Class: Lord

**Kurtis**: Markus' older brother, he has little talent for swordplay, but is very determined, and that determination leads him to practice hours on end, eventually surpassing his brother's natural talent. He took on metalsmithing so he can trust his weapons. A kind and quiet man, though he almost seems to despise his father Albert.

Age: 20 Class: Swordmaster

**Trevor**: An archer who lived with Markus and his family after his parents were killed by debt-collectors, he has a deep abiding respect in Albert for taking him in, and often works with him and the brothers. He regards Markus and Kurtis as family.

Age: 17 Class: Archer

**Albert**: A mercenary who devotes his time to protecting Holmes Village. While he stubborn and arrogant with Kurtis, he adores Markus and washes much affection over him.

Age: 43 Class: Hero

Author Note: Houston we have liftoff.

Seriously, to whoever my first commenter was, thank you, I wasn't going to even start the first chapter until tomorrow, but that inspired me to kick off this story with a bang. This chapter is mainly for introducing main characters, there's some real action next chapter, and the actual kickoff of the plot.

Just for fun, I put in the character's ages and class, if anyone is interested I can also maybe put in levels, stats or even growths (though those would be for bonus chapters if anything). My one gripe with writing this is that I have to use SkyDrive, since I don't have Word on my computer. This means I have to copy it to Wordpad before uploading... and then I have to take out a lot of BS that gets put in because of it (It takes out all of my italicizing and bolding)

Apparently Metalsmithing isn't a word, go figure.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Knights of Countries

_"I'm going mother, this is something I have to do, I must do."_

_"I understand, your father has heard her voice as well, he knows what he must do, and I know this is something, you have to do."_

_..._

_"Don't worry, if Volker and Daimos think they can stop me, they obviously have not touched up on their history."_

_"Justin, just promise me that you won't do anything foolish."_

_"It's not me you should be worried about..."_

The tavern wasn't that far from the smithy where Kurtis worked at, but there was a lot of commotion in town, apparently there was a small skirmish between Lenster and Thracian soldiers near the town, and considering Holmes close proximity to the border, was nothing unheard of.

Because of this there were plenty of horsemen patrolling the streets, armored knights with shiny lances pranced up and down the roads at will, and had already arrested two men suspected of being Thracian spies.

"Glad to see the paranoia police are as rigid as ever." Trevor mocked after witnessing a trio of soldiers dragging a screaming man down the street.

"It's kind of pathetic really, out here they'll take you away for even looking at someone funny." Kurtis added, showing his disdain for the knight's actions.

"I know there trying to protect us, but this is wrong." Markus elaborated, always a believer of king and country, but not willing to support such actions.

"Well we're here, I heard there a special on imports today." Trevor mentioned.

The three stepped inside the mostly vacant building, owing to the fact that most of the town residents were holed up in their houses or massing on the streets. Only three other people were inside the bar, a burly man sitting right up at the counter, a hooded figure reading a book in the corner, and of course the bartender.

After ordering their drinks, the burly looking man at the counter turned to Markus, asking him, "Aren't you that mercenary who took out the bandits camped off the main road?"

Markus simply nodded his head, picking up his glass and taking a drink from it.

"I'm Lazarus, I travel around the Thracian peninsula as a merchant, thanks for getting rid of those brigands, their bad for business." He stated, holding out his hand to Markus.

"Well it wasn't just me, thank my brother as well, I never could've handled it myself." Markus replied, shaking Lazarus' hand.

Just then sounds of a scuffle erupted, and a young girl burst into the tavern, followed by several soldiers, upon realizing that she was trapped, the girl drew a sword from beneath her cloak and faced the soldiers.

"There's no where left to run miss, I suggest you disarm yourself and come with us." The lead man stated, readying his spear to attack.

Markus got off his chair and asked the captain what they were doing here.

"This girl here is under arrest for suspicions of spying, why don't you get a good look at her, she is Thracian." He replied.

"I am not a spy, I was asking to be taken into custody, not to be arrested!" She shouted at them, the sword in her hands shaking.

"Do you have any proof?" Markus asked, Kurtis and Trevor also having stepped down beside him.

"Horse hairs! Are you with us or with her?" The captain barked at him, motioning for the other two men to ready their weapons.

"Some party this is, eh Markus?" Trevor asked.

Just as Markus was about to elaborate on his point, the soldier's captain charged at Markus, who barely avoided the lance, countering with a swift elbow to the back of the neck, knocking him out instantly.

The left flanking soldier was taken down by Kurtis, who had him in a sleeper hold while Trevor wrestled the lance from his hands. But just as Markus was about to help the girl, he found that the third soldier was retreating, leaving a trail of blood behind him as he hobbled out of the bar.

Unfazed by the commotion, the bartender poured another drink for Lazarus, who had remained sitting th entire time at the counter, the hooded man in the corner also remained, either unaware or uncaring for the battle that just took place.

"Well, that's that, thanks for the help." The girl thanked Markus, wiping the blood from her sword and sheathing it away.

She was about to leave when the wounded soldier returned, this time with what appeared to be a knight in charge.

"My subordinate here tells me he was attacked by a Thracian spy and her conspirators." He calmly stated.

The girl made a move for her sword, but Markus raised his hand against her, looking deeply into the knight's gray eyes. He then turned to the soldier, "You discharged soldier, take your captain and squad mate out of here and report yourselves to the authorities." He ordered.

So he and another soldier with the knight dragged off the unconscious men, and knight was left alone with Markus and the others.

"I heard about your exploits the other day, saved me and my men a lot of trouble, you have my thanks." He said to Markus, smiling as he shook his hand.

"Sorry to interrupt, but am I free to go?" The girl questioned the knight.

"No, if you don't mind I'd like it if you stayed and answered a few questions along with your friends here." He replied, sitting down at one of the tables in the room.

So Markus cleared his story with the knight, whose name was Lucas, explaining that he and his friends were simply stopping by for a drink. The girl's story, whose name was Liana, was a bit complex, she stated that she was simply passing by when the soldier's attempted to drag her off for "sexual" reasons.

"But you are a Thracian, yet you live in Manster?" Lucas asked her.

"My parents fled Thracia after the huge drought twenty years ago." Liana replied.

"And where are your parents now?" He questioned.

"Dead, died a few years ago, papa first from sickness, and then mom when the house burned down." She woefully replied.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Lucas consoled.

Just as Markus was about to leave with Kurtis and Trevor, Lucas called for them to stop.

"If you don't mind, I have a proposition for you." He stated.

Lucas explained that the soldier's presence in the city was due to the skirmish, which Lucas stated was not so small after all.

"Earl Dorias and I led our troops to meet the enemy east of the Purple Dragon Mountain, but Dragon Knights under the command of General Geshtar ambushed us, the whole battle lasted for hours, I only barely got Dorias himself to retreat, he was hellbent on fighting to the end." He elaborated.

"Wait, you say the knights were led by General Geshtar? The commander of Thracia's elite Trotzen Ritter?" Liana asked.

"You seem troubled girl, do you know this man?" Lucas asked her.

"Not personally...no, but everyone in Thracia has heard of him, he's the strongest Dragon Knight in all of Thracia." Liana stated.

"Fair enough, well after Dorias and I pulled our troops back, we got reports that the Thracian soldiers occupied a fort out near Manster castle, one of our forts, obviously we can't let it stay in their hands." Lucas explained.

"Let me guess, you want our help in taking it back?" Kurtis asked.

"Precisely, we don't have the manpower to attack the fort directly, we lost too many soldiers in the previous battle, and reinforcements won't be arriving for quite some time.

"We'll help, but I expect one hell of a bill, today is my birthday after all." Markus said.

And with that, Lucas left to go prepare this troops, saying that they would all meet after preparations in one hour. But while Lucas had to ready his troops, there was only one thing on Markus' mind.

"Where are you going to go?" Markus asked Liana, who had sat down for a drink while Lucas and Markus conversed.

"I don't know really, I kind of just drift around." She stated.

"Why not come with me? You obviously have some swordplay down, and we could always use more fighters." Markus queried.

"I guess I do owe you for helping me." She stated.

Markus got up from the table, saying, "Then it's settled, Kurtis, go tell father that we're heading out with the knights of Lenster, Trevor, go ready any equipment we might need, it's going to be a long night." And with that everyone left to go prepare for the attack.

**A Brief Overview of Characters Introduced This Chapter**

**Lucas:** A knight of Lenster, and the commander of the 2nd Royal Platoon, he is a realist, able to quickly make the right decisions on the battlefield, and commands a certain amount of respect from his fellow knights.

Age: 30 Class: Duke Knight

**Liana**: A young girl with Thracian descent. she claims her family fled from Thracia during the great drought that racked the already barren lands of the country.

Age: 13 Class: Myrmidon

Author Note: Not much to say for this one, except ramble about something. My cat has been acting VERY weird ever since an operation she had some months ago to remove a cyst on her leg. Before, she was quite shy cat, now she is bursting with affection, follows me everywhere around the house, and even looks out the window to see when I come home when I go out. She never did any of this stuff before, it's quite strange. Also, remember that opening, it's important.

For those (at least one person) wondering, this fic is almost 100% OC, the only canonical characters I have planned to have as actual characters are Dorias, Xavier, Calf and Cuan. Sigurd and Eltshan will show up for a brief cameo but will have little impact on the main storyline, due to this fic (currently) taking place twelve years before FE4's First Gen, though a time skip is planned later.

I'm writing (typing) Chapter 3 as I'm doing this author note, so expect that chapter up soon.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Breaking & Entering

While Markus and Lucas prepared their troops to re-take the fort, the Thracian soldiers inside it prepared for the inevitable onslaught. The commander on scene was Colonel Vidkun, acting under orders from General Wesley, the second highest General in the Thracian army aside from General Hannibal.

Hours before the planned assault however, Vidkun received a troubling message back from the homeland. A Knight under the command of General Geshtar came by with a message from Geshtar himself.

"Commander Geshtar wishes for your troops to cease and desist all actions within Manster territory, and return immediately to the homeland for reassignment." Ulrich, Geshtar's second in command relayed.

"Retreat? In our moment of triumph? I believe you overestimate their chances." Vidkun retorted.

"This isn't a suggestion Colonel, General Geshtar has ordered you to retreat." Ulrich stated.

Vidkun wasn't amused, while Geshtar was well liked among the populace for his strength and loyalty within the army, many of Thracia's commanding staff disliked him, quoting his rapid rise of power to his father being the King's closest adviser.

"I'm sick and tired of your idiot General thinking he can do whatever he wants with my soldiers, if Geshtar wants me to come back, he'll have to come over and drag me back to Thracia! Guards! Arrest this man!" Vidkun ordered, soldiers immediately whisking Ulrich away.

"You won't get away with this Vidkun! It's either the Lenster Knights conquer this place, or Geshtar has you executed for insubordination!" Ulrich screamed at he was dragged away.

"What a foolish boy, and his buffoon of a General." Vidkun mused to himself, then suddenly realizing he wasn't alone in the room.

"I take it everything has been going according to our plan?" The mysterious man stated.

"Yes, my lord, when we crush the Lenster Knights, we can have Geshtar removed for abandoning his troops on the front line, with him out of the way, we'll finally be able to move to the second stage our plan." Vidkun explained.

"That boy has been nothing but trouble, it will be good to finally get rid of him." The man said, letting out a bellowing laugh at the end.

_Back at Holmes Village_

"Is everyone ready?" Lucas asked the assemble of knights and mercenaries.

Everyone gave their thumbs up to Lucas, then prepared to set off, Markus and Kurtis were loaned two horses, so they rode in doubles, with Liana on Markus' horse and Trevor on Kurtis'. With that, the knights took off the main road, many of the townsfolk had come by to see them off, including Markus' father Albert, who gave him a stern nod of approval as he set off with the soldiers.

It didn't take long to reach the fort, but once they arrived, they could see the battle ahead would not be an easy one, the Thracians were busy setting up the ballistae left behind, as well as deploying archers along the walls.

"We don't have the manpower to take that fort Lucas, we need siege weapons, a trebuchet, or a battering ram..." Kurtis mused, looking at the building through a scope.

"There's no need for that my friend, why do you think we brought you along anyway?" Lucas assured.

Markus was puzzled, asking, "What do you want us to do?"

"Simple, there's a tunnel that leads to the fort's courtyard very nearby, we'll have you and your group go in and let down the gate, then my knights will charge the fort while you take care of the ballistae and archers." He explained.

The tunnel that Lucas described was located at by a river that ran next to the fort, it was a long, dark, damp tunnel, and short enough that you had to crouch through it. Once on the other side, there was a ladder that had to be climbed to reach a hatch that opened into the courtyard, it was night out, so there was little worry of being noticed while climbing out.

Once out, Markus and Trevor immediately set out to open the gate, and upon releasing the horde of knights into the fort, set out to eliminate the ballistae crews.

"Thanks for the assist, Markus! They won't know what hit them!" Lucas beamed as he charged ahead with the other soldiers.

Within the span of only ten minutes, Lucas and his knights routed the Thracian soldiers stationed outside the fort, but now they would have to clear the inside of the building.

"We'll be counting on your help for this one Markus, we won't be able to fight as effectively once we are inside." Lucas stated, dismounting his horse alongside the other knights.

Kurtis was a bit confused on one detail however, "You're bringing your lance? Won't it be a bit unwieldy indoors?" He asked.

"Kurtis, it's the weapon I've trained with my entire life, why would I not use it?" Lucas retorted.

So room by room the fort was cleared, but then one of Lucas' knights came back with an interesting report.

"My lord, we are sweeping the cells, and we found a Thracian knight and a young boy held in one!" He reported.

"Interesting, let's go talk to this knight, maybe he can give some insight on this whole problem." Markus stated, going off to the holding cells with Lucas and Liana, while Trevor and Kurtis worked with the other knights to clear the fort.

"Well what do you know, it's the Lenster Royal Knights, I knew you would get here eventually." The knight said, getting up from the corner he was sitting in.

Rather then respond to the Thracian, Markus peered around him to the other side of the cell, where a boy no older then six years, and with dirty silver hair was sulking in the corner.

"What are you doing in here, aren't you a Thracian soldier?" Lucas asked the knight.

"Yes, my name is Ulrich, I was under orders to bring the soldiers here home, but they didn't take to kindly to that idea." Ulrich sarcastically commented.

"I would sure like it if you let me out, I need to get payback on that sniveling Vidkun." He added.

After a brief discussion with Lucas, they agreed that there was nothing to lose by letting Ulrich out, so Markus broke the lock off the cell using his blade, with Lucas pulling the gate open.

"Oh, one quick question, who is that boy in the cell with you?" Markus asked Ulrich as he stepped out.

"I don't know, he wouldn't say a single word when I talked to him." He stated.

Just then Ulrich noticed Liana, and proceeded to take a stare intensely at her, asking, "Have we met before? You look very familiar." But she simply shook her head, and handed him a spare sword to fight with.

While Lucas took Ulrich and Liana back into battle, Markus stayed behind to try and coax the boy out of the cell.

"Hey buddy, you don't belong here, were you taken by those Thracians?" He asked the boy.

It seemed to get a response, as the boy looked up at Markus with his teary brown eyes.

"You're not one of the bad guys?" He nervously asked.

"No, I've come here with the Lenster Knights to liberate this place, what were you doing locked up in here?" Markus queried.

"Before taking this place, those men attacked the place I was staying in, and this big man with them took me away from my home... for his own pleasure." He tearfully explained.

Just then, Trevor came running into the room, "Markus, we've taken back the fort, the enemy commander fled, we've won!" He exclaimed.

But Markus ignored him, choosing to sit down and console the teary child beside him.

**A Brief Overview of Characters Introduced This Chapter**

**Ulrich:** A dragon knight serving under General Geshtar, he is a fierce fighter, and incredibly loyal to Geshtar.

Age: 23 Class: Dragon Knight

**Vidkun****:** An ambitious officer in the Thracian army, he cares little for the lives of citizens or soldiers as long as the objective is accomplished, he, like many other commanders in the Thracian Army detests Geshtar for his quick rise in rank.

Age: 50 Class: Baron

Author Note: This chapter has been taking me a lot longer to do because of two very sudden impacts on my life schedule. First, one of my friends had to be admitted to the ICU because of severe blood poisoning and kidney failure, and now they've found an abscess on his liver, he's currently at currently at a 50% chance of survival (much better then the 20% when he was first admitted), and his numbers are slowly improving, thank god for the Canadian medical system. Secondly, my dog Molly had surgery a few days ago to remove a cyst and some warts, and now she is extremely depressed, requiring near constant attention or she will start whimpering, crying, and flailing about trying to get the cone off her head, which means there is a LOT less time for me to work on this fic.

This chapter was supposed to go all the way to the official introduction of Geshtar, but I felt I'd cut it short and work more when these two issues are cleared up, sorry for the delays.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 The Iron Dragon

With the Thracian forces fleeing, Markus left to speak with Lucas about the battle report, having calmed the boy locked away in the cell. Once there, he say the Thracian knight from earlier chatting with Lucas, "Damn that Vidkun, if it wasn't for that damned rewarp, I would finished him off." Ulrich cursed, then turning to Markus once he realized he had entered.

"You say the leader warped away?" Markus asked him.

"Yes, his name is Vidkun, he's a colonel acting under the orders of a man named Wesley, I was sent by General Geshtar to report on their activities, as he believes that they were conspiring to usurp control of Thracia away from the king." Ulrich explained.

"If that was their plan, why did they have to come all the way out here and start a bloody war?" Lucas questioned, Ulrich shrugging his shoulders in response.

Amidst all the conversation Markus felt the boy tugging at his coat, "Thank you for rescuing me." He said as Markus looked down at him.

"You don't have anywhere to go, do you?" He asked him, the boy shook his head.

Markus knelt down next to him, "What is your name, son?"

"My name is Cedric, sir." The boy replied.

"Well, my name is Markus, if you'd like, my brother and I can look after you." Markus offered.

"Yes, yes! I would love that, thank you!" Cedric exclaimed, embracing Markus in a hug.

Just then, Kurtis and Liana rushed into the room, "Sorry to break up the scene, but there are people approaching from the west." Kurtis stated.

"Oh, it must be Dorias, coming in to bring reinforcements." Lucas stated.

"That's what we thought at first, but there's no mistake, it's the Trotzen Ritter, and with Geshtar at the lead." Liana retorted.

"Ah, don't you worry about a thing guys, come with me and I'll explain everything." Ulrich said, walking out immediately with the rest in tow.

So they waited on the roof for the Dragon Knights to arrive, the lead one breaking off, flying his great silver scaled dragon in a perfect circle around the roof before gracefully touching down next to Markus and Ulrich.

As Ulrich helped the man off of his mount, Markus took note of the armour the man was wearing, pitch-black and shiny, with what looked like actual dragon skulls used for shoulder pads, and a terrifying horned helmet. As he removed his helmet, it revealed a man in his late 20s with short messy hair and piercing green eyes, he walked up to Lucas and held out his hand.

"Thank you for making my life considerably easier." Geshtar stated, shaking hand with the confused Lenster knight.

"Thanks, but why are you here? I thought we were enemies?" Lucas asked him.

"This battle was not my intention, and I really must apologize, I could not control that man, Vidkun, and because of my failure, you all had to come here and fight on my behalf." Geshtar stated.

"What do you mean, on my behalf?" Markus demanded.

Turning his attention to Markus, Geshtar stated, "I was on my way to punish Vidkun for his betrayal, but it seems you did that already."

Ulrich then stepped up to Geshtar, seemingly whispering something into his ear, which caused him to scan around the crowd gathered on the rooftops, apparently looking for someone.

"Bah, it's nothing, let us depart my friend." Geshtar said, motioning for Ulrich to come with him onto his dragon, "I know there are large rifts between our two great countries, and I hope I live to the day when the prosperous nation that Dain and Noba created becomes one again." Geshtar stated before flying off and rejoining his squadron.

"He's certainly an interesting man, isn't he Markus?" Kurtis asked.

"Yes, he sure is." He responded.

After taking Markus and his company back to Holmes, Lucas left with his squad back to Lenster, saying he had to report back to the King on the events that occurred.

"Sorry I can't stay, but if I take any longer in giving this report then King Calf will think we're off to war." Lucas said before taking off with his knights, leaving Markus behind with his brother, Trevor, Liana, and the boy, Cedric.

"There's an inn close by, I think I'll stay there for now, see you later Markus." Liana stated slowly before walking down the road.

Trevor shifted closely to Markus, whispering to him, "You're just going to let her go! Come on man I know she wants you!"

"And how do you know that? You've never even had a girlfriend before" Markus silently snarked.

With that statement Trevor let out a long sigh, mentioning that he was going home, kicking away pebbles as he walked the opposite way up the road.

"Let's go home Kurtis, I'm sure father will be glad to see us." Markus told his brother, and the two with the young boy in charge went home.

When they arrived home Albert was busy reading a book by the fireplace, a smile spread upon his face as Markus explained to him what transpired.

"Oh and there's one other thing," Markus started to explain, bring Cedric around in front of him, "This is Cedric, we found him locked away in the cells and h ehas no where to go, so I'm going to look after him." He added.

And suddenly the smile vanished from Albert's face, "A child Markus? Don't be ridiculous, you absolutely cannot be this boy guardian, you're too hot headed to look after a child, especially after that nasty scene at the tavern." He sternly stated.

"He can stay tonight, but first thing tomorrow morning I'm taking him to the orphanage." Albert ordered, setting the closed book to the table next to him.

Cedric looked quite distressed, but before Markus could offer a response, Kurtis stepped in for him, "Oh yeah? Like you haven't done any better yourself." He challenged.

"Watch your words, boy." Albert threatened, making Markus step backwards a bit with Cedric.

"I still remember that night Albert, if you we're so stinking drunk that night, if you had only been half the man you are, then mom would not have been taken by those bandits!" Kurtis yelled at him.

Albert was not amused, he got out of his chair immediately after that outburst, "Out, Out! All of you!" He shouted at them, Kurtis immediately leaving, followed slowly by Markus and Cedric.

Once outside they heard the door slam behind them, taking Cedric's hand and with Kurtis in tow, Markus left down the road to Trevor's place, as it was nearing nightfall.

"That could've gone better." Markus sarcastically commented.

"Whatever, he deserved it." Kurtis replied, "You go on ahead, I'm going to grab a few drinks." He added, splitting away at an intersection.

"Mr. Markus, you're not going to give me away, are you?" Cedric nervously asked Markus.

"Of course not, I said I would look after you, and I am a man of my word." He responded, continuing to walk with him to Trevor's house.

Just then in the distance, the shrill shriek of a dragon pierced the skies, but over the wind and sound of music in the streets, it was little more then a whisper.

**A Brief Overview of Characters Introduced This Chapter**

**Geshtar**: A General of Thracia, and commander of the Trotzen Ritter, Thracia elite dragon knight squadron, his youth and rapid rise in rank has upset many nobles, as well as his ideas of a diplomatically unified Thracia.

Age: 24 Class: Dragon Master

**Cedric**: A young boy with stunning silver hair that Markus rescues for the Thracians, his caretakers were killed by the Thracians, so Markus chooses to look after him.

Age: 5

Author Note: First off, I have to say my friend is not going to die, probably. He's been taken out of the ICU and is awake and communicating, (The first thing he said was "I'm alive") but he's not out of the woods yet, they still need to reactivate his kidneys fully, and there is some brain damage evident that needs to be looked into. My dog is getting better, she still has to wear a cone and have injections for the next 2 weeks, but is no longer crying when not attended to (basically petting constantly). This chapter is a bit shorter, but I'm currently visiting relatives, so I don't want to take up too much time alone working on this.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 A Night In Holmes

As the day dwindled and the citizens of Holmes left for their houses, Kurtis found himself continuing to wander the streets alone. While he and his father had never gotten along as far as Kurtis could remember, he felt trouble every instance they fought.

"Why do I let him get to me like that? It's not worth it..."Kurtis thought aloud, settling himself on kicking a rock down the road as he walked along it.

"Something troubling you?" A voice from behind him came.

"Oh, it's you Liana." Kurtis said after glancing around his shoulder.

"Family issues?" She asked him.

"Yeah, my father and I don't get along that well." He flatly replied.

"You seem to get along pretty well with your brother though." Liana stated, the two walking together down the road.

"He's the only reason I even stay here, I need to be around to bail him out of trouble, that's what big brothers do." Kurtis said, kicking ther rock again.

"That's nice of you, it would be nice if my big brother was arpound to help me." Liana said.

Kurtis turned around to face her, "You never said you had any siblings." He commented.

"It's not worth mentioning, he stayed behind in Thracia rather then leave with my parents and I." She stated rather solemnly.

"Why didn't he go with you?" Kurtis asked her, starting to walk down the street again.

"He was in the army, Thracians don't take to kindly to deserters." Liana explained.

"Ah, I get it, say no more." Kurtis quickly stated.

Kurtis and Liana continued walking together, conversing about their recent battles, and how life was in Manster compared to Thracia. Eventually they came to the Inn that Liana was staying in, but before they parted ways, Kurtis had one more thing to say.

"I think... I think I'll go speak with Albert, maybe I can find out why he is always so rough with me." He said.

"And if you find this reason, what will you do?" Liana asked.

"I don't need to do anthing, if Albert has a problem with me, that's his problem, not mine." Kurtis stated.

"Well, good luck then." Liana finished before entering the inn.

_Meanwhile, at Trevor's House_

"Wow, you mean he kicked you out? That's... harsh, don't you think?" Trevor asked after hearing the encounter with Albert from Markus.

"I should've expected dad to act like that, and I expecially should've expected Kurtis to call him out." Markus stated.

After leaving home Markus took Cedric to Trevor's house while Kurtis meandered around. Once there he explained the situation to Trevor, who allowed them to stay in the guest room as long as they needed to.

Once settled, Cedric went to sleep in one of the beds while Markus and Trevor shared drinks and stories in the living room.

"I don't want to sound negative Markus, but are you sure you can handle taking care of that boy." Trevor asked his friend.

"Of course, I said I would, and I'm not about to call myself a liar." Markus stated.

"There's one more thing thought." Markus started, catching Trevor's attention, "I've given it some thought, I'm going to leave Holmes with Kurtis, and I'd like for you to come with us." Markus explained.

"Well, that's quite sudden, I thought you said you'd be fine staying here in Manster?" Trevor questioned.

"At first I did, but ever since that assault on the fort I realized something, there's so much to see and so much to do outside of Holmes, Kurtis and I have planned the whole thing out, we're going to travel all across Jugdral, to Isaac, to Silesia, to Verdane, everywhere." Markus stated.

"And you'd like me to come?" Trevor reiterated.

"If you want to." Markus confirmed.

"Where you go, I go Markus." Trevor stated.

"Thanks Trevor, I'm going to go look for Kurtis, could you stay here and look after Cedric while I'm gone?" Markus said.

_Meanwhile, back at the Inn_

Upon entering her room, Liana was startled by the presense of a man sitting on her bed, dressed in full traveller's garb and with a sword layed across his lap.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't have to be so discreet about this, no one here if going to attack you just because you're Thracian." Liana stated.

"Maybe not now, but that will all change soon, I'm here because the big bad boss has ordered you home." The mam said rather coldly.

"Well you might as well just kill me now, save yourself all the trouble of dragging me to him." Liana replied harshly.

"No I'm not here because of him, I was sent here by the dragon." He stated.

"The dragon?" Liana questioned.

"The big bad boss is on his way here, this town will be destroyed, and there is nothing you can do about that." He explained.

As if on que, screams and shouts could be heard through the window in the room, and the glow of fires shined through the glass.

"I need to take you to Mease, the dragon will take care of everything else." The man explained, holding his hand out to Liana.

"To hell with that, this game has hurt enough people already, and I never wanted to be a piece on the board for them to move around at will, so you can go tell your men that I would rather burn alive before I ever return to Thracia!" Liana fiercely proclaimed, and she stormed out immediately afterwards, leaving the man alone in the room.

_Meanwhile, back at Markus and Kurtis' home_

"What are you doing back here boy? I told you to get out." Albert threatened as Kurtis stood in the doorway.

"I will, but first you're going to tell me everything, tell me the reason why all these years I've lived with you, all these years I've fought and struggled to please you, why you have always stayed the same with me, your son, nothing but contempt and disrespect." Kurtis demanded.

Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait on this chapter, I've been in Osoyoos for the past few days, and currently slaving away at a computer cranking out fiction is near ther bottom on my list of things to do, what with all the boating, swimming, warm sunny days and all the fresh juicy peaches you heart desires.

But that's no excuse, the main reason is that while I'm a good storyteller, I'm not a really good storywriter, and finding way to translate my ideas to a computer screen can be a litle frustrating at times.

And I also picked up Fallout New Vegas (the edition will all the expansions), probably the best/worst idea I had, the first two days I literally played it for 13 hours straight, I might add that game to my list of fanfictions I might make.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: All or Nothing

As Markus started looking through the roads for his brother Kurtis, the attack on Holmes began. Fighting between men erupted all throughout the streets, clashes between steel and bone, all added by the screams of men and women burning alive in their homes. Quickly abandoning his current objective, Markus ran home to alert his father, but curiously there was no one there, the presence of blood and window shards telling a different tale.

_"Father, brother, where did you go?" _Markus thought to himself.

Drawing the sword Orion, Markus was about to head into battle when a familiar face appeared.

"I've found you Markus! Quickly, we need to get out of here!" Liana worryingly stated.

"Nonsense, we have to go help the others!" Markus quickly retorted, running into the thick of the battle, Liana begrudgingly following him.

The scene inside the town was a whole different story, what was left of the town militia was desperately trying to protect the inhabitants, but they easily overpowered by the better armed, better trained, and better numbered enemy forces.

"Hold on, these are Thracian soldiers! What the hell is happening here?" Markus realized, losing his concentration, and allowing one soldier to ram his spear into Markus' left shoulder.

"That's why we need to leave!" Liana exclaimed, cutting down the man who attacked Markus.

Another wave of lancers then charged at the town, who were barely holding their own against archers and soldiers. But before they could get close enough to strike, an arrow whizzed overhead, followed by a deafening explosion at the Thracians were blown away.

"What children, let me show you the skill of a true hunter!" Trevor excitedly stated, releasing one arrow then struck one Thracian in the chest, and another right after that hit the fleeing one through the back of the head.

"Bingo, headshot." Trevor nonchalantly stated, jumping down from the roof he was on to greet Markus and Liana.

"You saved us Trevor, but that in Narga's name was that?" Liana questioned, referring to the exploding arrow.

"Oh that? A little side project, I took some of the blasting powder miners use, wrapped it up carefully and stuck it on the end of an arrow." Trevor explained.

"That's great Trevor, but where's Cedric? Is he with you?" Markus nervously asked, tentatively trying to stem the bleeding from his injury.

"No worries Markus, he's safe back at my house." Trevor replied.

"Good, now let's go find Kurtis and dad." Markus stated, ripping off a piece of his shirt and hastily tying it around his wound.

In the centre of town it was surprisingly quiet, as a large clearing had formed to watch a fight with the Thracian commander. With the town all but secured, there was little left to oppose the Thracians, but as Markus got closer to the fight, he could see who the commander's opponent was.

"Guys, it's Kurtis, he's not doing to well." Markus stated.

Kurtis was locked in a duel with a heavily armed opponent, dancing and weaving all around the armour knight's lance swings, while delivering quick sword attacks that seemed to just bounce off all around him.

"Puny man, why don't you just admit defeat?" The commander queried.

Stopping to pant and wipe the blood of his face, Kurtis spat into the ground, replying, "Never, especially not to Thracians, you people took my mother away from me, and now you're finally going to pay."

Obviously not pleased by Kurtis' remark, the knight went forward to strike, but Kurtis skimmed gently along the lance, driving his sunflower branded sword to the only unprotected region of the knight's body, and drove the blade through his neck.

"Oh! The commander, he's fallen!"

"No way, that swordsman bested him?"

"Quickly! We have to avenge him!"

As the soldiers who were observing the fight got up to attack Kurtis, he dropped his sword, almost ready to collapse from exhaustion. Markus ignored the impending threats and ran forward also, to steady Kurtis and keep him on his feet.

"You... idiot... you should have fled." Kurtis gasped out.

But all Markus could do is stand there holding his brother, waiting for the strike that would end it all.

But it never came.

When he opened his eyes, Markus saw the soldiers had all stopped to look overhead, where many dragons could be seen circling.

"Attention all soldiers! This is a direct order from your general, you are to cease all attacks and allow any remaining civilians to flee, if there are wounded, tend to them." One of the dragon knights shouted.

The dragon knights turned out to be the Trotzen Ritter, once again spearheaded by General Geshtar, who flew down to have a word with Markus.

"I'm sorry I didn't arrive sooner Markus, because of my failure many of your fellow people have suffered greatly." Geshtar apologized to Markus.

"What is going on, I thought you were going to pull your troops back?" Markus questioned.

"You are going to need to leave Markus, Thracia will take this area, you cannot stay here." Geshtar explained, ignoring Markus' question.

"Did you hear me Geshtar? What the hell is going on?!" Markus pleaded.

Geshtar did not answer, only letting out a small "I'm sorry," and leading Markus to a set of horses he could use get his friends and family out of Holmes.

As Geshtar left to organize the subjugation of the town, Liana and Trevor helped bring Kurtis to one of the horses, with Cedric quietly following behind.

"What's going to happen now Markus?" Cedric unsteadily asked him.

"For now... we're going to go to Lenster, we'll find Lucas and tell him what happened here." He replied.

It was here that Markus got a good look at the damage everything had received, while most of the fires had been put out, many homes were ruined, and the town was all but destroyed. Honouring his word, Geshtar's dragon knights were doing their best to save what people they could from the ruins, but most were already dead or dying. He also summoned a healer to treat the wound Markus and Kurtis received.

Markus' shoulder injury was a bit more then the healer could handle, and was notified his swing would probably never be the same with that arm. Kurtis was in much worse shape, along with several stab and gashes across his chest and back, Kurtis also had a large diagonal cut across his face, narrowly missing one of his eyes, it was a miracle alone that he was still awake and alert.

"One thing I need to ask you Kurtis." Markus said to him after the healer finished bandaging the rest of his chest.

"Where's dad?" Kurtis asked, to which Markus nodded.

"He's dead Markus." Kurtis coldly claimed.

"What? But, how" Markus stammered.

Kurtis got up from the bench he was sitting on and grabbed his sword, walking up to and mounting a horse. Markus got up as well and quickly ran beside his brother's horse.

"Who did it brother? Did you see what killed him?" Markus questioned.

"I killed him brother, in our house, with my sword." Kurtis claimed, raising his sunflower branded blade.

By the rise of the next sun Kurtis was long gone, leaving behind only a broken dream and a broken family.

Author's Note

I've been gone for over a week, went camping with my family out into the middle of nowhere (Bog Lake to be exact), which obviously meant no cell or internet coverage, and like a moron I forgot my computer at home, glorious. At least the trip was a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively, got to go ride ATVs through the great Canadian wilderness, saw a family of black bears, and then promptly drove as fast as possible away from said family of black bears. A family of Whiskey Jacks set up next to our campsite, probably because my sister and brother kept throwing food out for them, such cute little birds, even if they are scavengers.

It also looks like the format for updating stories has changed, go figure.


End file.
